Improvement in horse-rakes



tant atwthifi Mggsgr-MW JOSEPH LA CROIX, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR 'IO HIMSELF AND EDMOND RICHARDS, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent N0. 8,7 ,7 82, dated Mat/rch 16, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making-part of theRamo.

To all whom it Imay coneern Be it known that I, JOSEPH LA CRolX, ofOhioopee, in the county of Hampden, and State of Massachusetts, havemade and invented certain new and useful Im# provements in Horse-Rakes;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspeoiieation, inwhich like letters mark like parts, and whereof- Figure l is aperspective view, and

. Figure 2, a side elevation, the thills o o being elevated in bothcases, as when attac-hed to a horse.

tis the object of my invention to produce a horserake, whereon theoperator sits and rides, andthe teeth of which, independentwithincertain limits, may, by a single lever, be raised, or held down,as circumstances require.

To enable others skilled in the art to practise my invention, I describethe same as follows:

In the accompanying drawings- The part marked a represents astraightaxle-tree, provided with Vordinary Wheels, b b, and strong thills, c c.

To the rear upper corner of such axle-tree, I hinge, at :l d', the heade, of nearly the same length as the axle-tree, between wheels, made fastto the upper side of head e.

I arrange'a series of short arms, f f l, Sto., whereof the end andmiddle arms ff5 f9 are .somewhat longer than the others, and extend backof head e a short "distance L The teeth g g', Sto., I insert in separatebars, h h, 85e., and strengthen the connections by a brace, i.

The bars 7L h', Jvc., I arrange across the head e, by the sides of andbetween the arms ff', 85e.; and through the series, and connecting thesame,-I pass a rod, j, whereon each tooth-bar, h 7i', Sto., may rise andfall indently.

One of the arms, as f5, I make higher than the rest of the series, andthrough it, parallel to head e, I pass a bar, k, and attach the same, atl Z, to arms f f 9, by bolts or other suitable means, of sueh a lengthas to From the lower end of lever p, and jointed thereto,

I run a rod, fr, which is again jointed to rod j, or to one ofthe arms,as f6 f7, near rod j. v

A little in front of the middle of axle-tree a, I arrange a seat, s,which is'supported by a brace, t, attached at the footlto cross-bar m,or tovaxle-treea.

I arrange the while-tree u under the cross-bar m,

and provide a rod, w, which eonnects such whiflle-tree with axle-tree a.

The horse is attached to the rake in the usual man ner, and the workmanoperates the same by means of the lever, p.

By moving lever 11 backward, the head e is rocked forward, arms ff,85o., are depressed, and teeth q g', 85e., raised, for passing windrowsor other purposes, and 'the teeth may be thus held in an elevatedposition by means of a hasp, or similar device, attached to the rear andtop of one ofthe arms, as f 7, and hitched into a staple on lever p. I

`But pressure on the teeth g g', Sto., for the purpose of holding downthe same, is often necessary, and this I accomplish by moving lever pforward, whereby head e is rocked backward, and rod lc thus brought tobear on bars It It', 85e.

And it is to the above-described device,\vhereby raketeeth,independentwithin certain limits, are raised or ,held down by a singlelever, that my invention particularly relates.

And now, having described my improved horse-rake,

What I claim therein as new, and desire to secure .by Letters Patent, isY rIhe vibrating head e, provided with arms f f 5 f 9, in combinationwith rod It, teeth 'g g', and lever p, the whole arranged and operatingsubstantially as described. p

Witnesses: JOSEPH LA CROIX.

JOHN A. HALL, SIDNEY SANDERS.

